If you’ve ever wondered how Carb Smart California-Inspired Chicken Salad (HelloFresh edition) stacks up for a toddler, well, buckle up, because tonight’s dinner was a rollercoaster. Spoiler: my 14-month-old daughter, Roslyn, staged a full-scale food strike.
Now, don’t get me wrong—the salad itself was beautiful. It had juicy tomatoes, crisp greens, chicken cooked just right, and that California vibe that makes you feel like you should be eating it outside with sunshine and a glass of sparkling water. My husband had it plated up, ready for us all to dive in, and I had prepped Roslyn’s portion into neat little bites. Honestly, it looked so toddler-friendly.
But here’s the reality: Roslyn did not eat a single bite. Not the chicken, not the lettuce, not the add-ons. Nada. Zilch.
I tried the classics.
- Grapes? She ate a couple, then tossed the rest on the ground like confetti.
- Fork feeding? Refused.
- Water to wash things down? Refused.
- My husband and I playing “yum yum, look at Mommy and Daddy eat”? Ignored.
She was just done. The kind of toddler “done” where they look at you like, How dare you bring me to this table with this nonsense?
And honestly? That’s real life. Some nights your kid eats everything in sight, and other nights they act like chicken is poison. Tonight, chicken was poison.
Teething or Toddler Drama?
Part of the mystery here is that Roslyn was holding her teeth in her mouth quite a bit—classic teething behavior. So maybe her gums hurt. Or maybe she was just not in the mood. Toddlers are unpredictable little food critics, and sometimes the best you can do is shrug and move on.
What did she end up eating instead? One and a half bananas. Straight up. No salad, no chicken, just bananas. And honestly, bananas are a pretty solid toddler supper if you ask me.
The Learning Tower Dilemma
Another thing I noticed: Roslyn really loves eating in her learning tower. She’s part of the action up at the counter, watching us chop and stir, and usually that keeps her engaged. But we didn’t have the tower tonight. Big mistake. I could feel it. She missed her “kitchen perch.” We may need to do an emergency pickup to get it back in action. It honestly makes such a difference in her mealtime mood.
Big Lunch, Big Bananas
To be fair, she did eat a huge lunch earlier in the day, so maybe she just wasn’t hungry. Toddlers run on their own mysterious rhythms. Sometimes they’re bottomless pits, and sometimes you can’t get them to eat more than a cracker.
The best advice I’ve gotten (and try to hold onto on nights like this) is to look at nutrition over the week, not the day. Today may have been bananas-for-supper, but tomorrow could be chicken-devouring toddler chaos. And that’s okay.
Adult Verdict
For us adults? This meal was fantastic. The chicken was flavorful, the radishes added that perfect pop of sharpness, and the salad felt light but filling. It’s the kind of meal that makes you feel good about dinner—healthy without being boring.
But for Roslyn? Tonight’s verdict was:
Bananas 10/10. Chicken Salad 0/10.
And that’s the reality of cooking with HelloFresh for a toddler. Sometimes it’s a hit, sometimes it’s a miss, but at least the adults get fed, and bananas save the day.
